Within reach (organizing the paper)

Hey hey! Thanks for all the love on my blue buffet in the foyer yesterday! If you try out the color send me a pic of what you do! ;)

I told you last week that I’m on a mission to get clutter control around here – one little project at a time. Today I’m sharing a little purchase that has already helped me a ton. We’ll see if I can keep it up. :)

Anyone remember that post about the PAPER and how I had come up with an idea to keep it contained and organized in my house? Well, that’s SOOOO not happening anymore. It was a nice few months. I am a piler, I’m embracing my piling and I’m proud of it!!

OK, not proud at all.

The paper is really my biggest clutter foe in our house. It’s mostly contained downstairs, usually in the kitchen and the office. OH, and the CAR. Oh. The car.

I’ve tried a few different methods and I finally succumbed to the fact that I just suck at organizing the paper that comes into our house. I know, I’ve heard the whole ‘touch it once thing’ -- I tried that for a few days and then laughed and laughed because it just wasn’t happening.

Anyway, it ends up in piles like these in my office:

That whole box is full by the way – that’s why there’s a stack on top, duh. ;)

And then there’s the desk pile:

Honestly? That pile is not usually a pile. Usually it’s just spread out over the desk. And then that sweet kitty up there (looking so innocent) ends up swiping half of them off the desk onto the floor. She thinks it’s fun. I think she needs a new hobby.

Thing is, my desk doesn’t have a lick of storage. That’s what you get when you use an old farmhouse table as a desk. I love how large it is, so I’m happy to trade storage for the large surface. Also, we keep our file cabinet downstairs in hubby’s office. There’s just more room down there and we’ve had it in the basement for years, even before we finished it.

So I realized a couple months ago that I don’t have a spot handy to put paperwork that needs to be filed. I sit at my desk, go through the paper and mail, sort it into piles (recycle, shred, to do, file) and then it seems nine times out of ten at least a couple of those piles seem to just sit on the desk. And then the next day I’ll put something else on it, and then again, and then the sorted pile isn’t sorted anymore and I needed to stop. the. madness.

So I found this at Staples:

Isn’t it so pretty? It’s just a small hanging file folder from the Martha Stewart line, I think it was $5.99? I had never seen that line of supplies until recently and it was heavenly.

I added some labels with my label maker that usually has hearts fluttering out of it (because I love it so):

And I wanted to put it within reach – where I could just file away stuff as I sat at my desk. Thing is, the spot where my desk sits isn’t really conducive to doing that – it’s all windows.

So I went under the window:

I’m a function over form girl most of the time, but I gotta admit I wondered if it would look goofy there. But you really can’t see it:

It’s mostly hidden by the drapes (that I just move aside when I need to access it) and I have to say, I think the little pop of color hiding out is kind of fun.

I don’t notice it when I walk in the room, that’s for sure:

Now, when it gets full (like now), I can just take a big pile of paper down and file it. That and the to do pile are no longer on my desk all the time, which is HUGE to me.

Now…we’ll see if it works. Most times when I try to keep the paper corralled it works great for a few months and then I get lazy. If I made resolutions I’d make one to keep the paper under control. But I don’t…so I won’t. ;) But I will TRY.

What are your paper organization tricks? Any simple solutions that help you out?